


Fault Lines

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: You Know Me So Well [2]
Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Feels, Fluff, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24719839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: Tim has nightmares. Lucy won't let him face them alone.
Relationships: Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Series: You Know Me So Well [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1787263
Comments: 14
Kudos: 147





	Fault Lines

Everyone had nightmares. They were just a part of life.

Tim had learned to wake up quietly years before he'd reached adulthood, but it had proven to be a huge help when there was someone else in bed with him. That hadn't been an issue yet since he'd gotten together with Lucy – he slept better with her than he had in a hell of a long time – but he knew it was inevitable. Not even the best kind of love was enough to magically fix people.

When it finally happened, when the shadows in his head finally got bad enough to chase him awake again, he slipped out from underneath Lucy as quietly as he could. Then he pulled on a pair of pajama pants and headed into the quiet kitchen, not bothering to turn on the light as he dropped down into a kitchen chair. Scrubbing his face with his hands, he let his eyes adjust to the darkness as he breathed slow and deep in an attempt to calm down his racing heart. It wouldn't be enough to stop the clawing feeling in his chest, but he'd start trying to force that back down as soon as—

The thought scattered as the kitchen lights flared to life. Lucy padded into the kitchen wearing the Henley he'd left on the floor, heading straight to the cupboard where he kept the mugs.

He let out a breath, guilt and something sweeter sneaking in through the cracks in his chest. "I'm okay," he said quietly. "You can go back to bed."

She just smiled at him and continued making them both a mug of warm milk. "Oh, me being awake has nothing to do with you," she said brightly, adding a swirl of chocolate sauce into his mug and a swirl of both chocolate and caramel sauce into hers. Then she brought them both over to the table, setting his down in front of him before claiming the seat next to his. "I love being awake at 3 a.m. It's a magical time of night."

The fact that she'd managed to keep even the slightest trace of sarcasm out of the words was more impressive than it probably should have been. He raised an eyebrow, keeping his expression wry even as he wrapped his hands around the mug. "So if I went to bed right now, you wouldn't follow me."

"Nope." She gave him her best innocent look as she took a sip of her milk. "Sometimes I just like to commune with the night, you know?"

He held her gaze for another long moment, a staring contest he quickly realized he had no hope of winning. He gave in and looked away first, lips curving as he took his own sip. "You're still not a good liar." 

Her smile widened. "Which is why I spend so much time telling the truth, even when no one seems to believe me." Then her expression softened. "One of these days, I'm going to finally convince you that not everything's your fault."

His chest clenched. It was probably an easy guess, given what he'd already told her, but it still felt like she'd cracked him open. "You're probably going to need sleep for that."

She made an exasperated noise, gently poking him in the leg with her toe. "You're not going to get me to go back to bed, so stop trying."

He moved his own foot, gently stroking her ankle. "I could go back to bed."

She gave him a pointed look. "Would you actually sleep?" When he didn't say anything, she sighed. "I'm not trying to rush whatever you usually do to deal with your nightmares. I just didn't want you brooding out here alone."

He'd heard people talk about how pain could be sweet. Before Lucy, he'd never believed it. "But I'm so good at it."

That startled a laugh out of her. "You just keep believing that."

The sound of her laughter eased something inside him, but it didn't leave him any less exposed. If Lucy wanted to, she could break him in half. "You're not going to try and get me to talk about it?"

Her expression gentled again. "It's like you think I don't know you."

His chest squeezed even tighter at the sheer understanding in her voice. She'd turned her attention back to her milk, clearly content to stay right where she was even though they both had work in the morning, and a wave of overwhelming gratitude got tangled up with the guilt. She _deserved_ to have him talk to her about it, the same way she always used him to help her talk through her problems. That was what people did in a relationship - they let each other in.

But he wouldn't want to subject his worst enemy to some of the places inside his head, let alone someone he loved. And that was assuming he _could_ make himself talk about any of it. He could manage a list of facts, but feelings? Feelings could kill you.

He let out a breath. "I used to get hit for crying." It was one of those bald-faced facts that probably needed a ton of context to make any sense, and even he didn't know if it was an explanation or an apology. It hadn't even been what the nightmare was about, not really.

Lucy met his eyes, expression so utterly careful, and this time he knew for a fact the tiny helpless shrug he gave her was an apology. She blinked at that, eyes swimming so full of emotion they could barely contain it all, and then abandoned her chair to settle into his lap. She took his face in her hands, gaze locking with his. "That's not your fault, either," she whispered.

Something did break inside him, but it felt like the kind of re-breaking that needed to happen to make a badly-healed bone set right. He let out a shuddering breath, everything rushing out of him as he wrapped himself around her and buried his face in her neck. Her arms came around him a heartbeat later, holding on just as tight as he was. When she pressed her cheek against his hair, he felt the wetness of tears.

Tim squeezed his eyes shut, letting himself be loved.

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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